Districts: Pune and Raigad

Minimum Days Required: 4

Best Season: November and December

If a trekker wants to really test his / her time management skill, stamina, patience, and presence of mind, then this is one trek a trekker must look forward to do. Starting from fort Sinhagad near Pune and concluding at Durga-Durgeshwar Raigad, this trek takes you to long and demanding route in Sahyadri along with superb scenery.

This demanding trek can be completed in 4 days:

Day 1:Sinhagad to Rajgad

Day 2:Rajgad to Mohari village

Day 3:Mohari Village to Raigad

Day 4: Explore Raigad

Day 1 :Sinhagad to Rajgad

First day of the range trek starts from Sinhagad to Rajgad. It is approximately a 30 km walk. This trek can be divided in four parts,

1.Pune City to Sinhagad.

2. Sinhagad to Winzer village.

3. Winzer village to Gunjavane village.

4. Gunjavane village to Rajgad.

PMT bus transport is available from Swargate to reach Atkarwadi. Atkarwadi is the base village of fort Sinhagad. Ascending Sinhagad, takes around one and half hours from Atkarwadi. At Sinhagad, one can pay homage to Tanaji Malusare Samadhi, refill water at Dev Taka and move towards Kalyan Darwaja for descend. Rajgad is approximately 30 kilometres towards south of Sinhagad. The route from Sinhagad to Rajgad is via Winzer village. There is a ridge that goes towards Winzer village. The ridge has 3-4 small hills. After crossing 2-3 hills one has to take route towards right. Further, one comes across a hill, keeping the hill towards, left move ahead and take a right turn. It takes almost hour and half to reach this point. Initially, the path is narrow and goes through trees. Hence, caution is to be eexercised while crossing this path. Later, one has to turn left to take a steep descend towards village Malavali. From malavali, Winzer is almost 10 minutes’ walk through farms. It takes almost 4-5 hours to reach Winzer from sinhagad. Enough stock of water is to be carried from Sinhagad as there is no water till Winzer.

From Winzer there are two options;

1. Nasarapur - Velhe road is nearby Winzer village and one can take a sumo either from Winzer or from Margasani to Gunjavane, base village of Rajgad.

2. There is straight road behind Winzer bus stop to Sakhar village. This route is through fields.This route saves almost 5-6 kilometers of walk. However, in rainy season this route may not be accessible. 

There are two options from here.

1. Reach Sakhar and follow gunjavane road.

2. Instead of going to Sakhar, cross a small hill ahead and join the same gunjavane road. This route saves some time. But it is advisable to check with villagers / local about this route. Desirable, that a village or local accompanies you till Gunjavane. From Sakhar it takes almost an hour to reach Gunjavane. Rajgad can be ascended in approximately2 hours.

Day 2 :Rajgad to Mohari village via Torna

Second day of the range is from fort Rrajgad to Mohari village near Rayling platue. The rangecan be divided in 3 parts

1. Rajgad to Torna.

2. Torna to Bhatti Village

3. Bhatti to Mohari Village.

Second day, take a traverse through a ridge between Rajgad and Torna to reach Torna. It is desirable to leave Rajgad as early as possible. Lunch and snacks can be carried from Rajgad. Raw material to prepare food for night and next day also needs to be carried.  Route towards Torna is from Alu Darwaza of Sanjivani Machi. Alu darwaza is situated on the left side while heading towards Sanjivani machi. Little descend has to be done from Alu darwaza to come out of fortification of Sanjivani machi. Then one has to take a traverse from Sanjivanimachi from left side. Then, one has to move ahead, come towards the end of Sanjivani machi and take right. Here, descend from Rajgad begins. The ridge joining Rajgad to Torna is almost 13kms. The road is straight and passes through a small hill. On the way, there is only one house which belongs to Debhe. With minimal stops one can reach Torna within 4-5 hours.There is steep ascend near Torna. A small rock patch followed by a raddle. Rock patch can be ascended without a rope. After ascending Torna, one has to reach Mengai Devi temple. Here there is a water cistern, where water can be refilled, lunch and rest can be taken.  From Torna we have to descend towards Bhatti village this route is extremely steep and slippery. There are strong karbi stems on the both sides of the route for support. On the way there are some thorny trees and hence, one has to exercise caution while descending. It takes almost 2 hours to descend from Torna from this route. Further, crossing the dense karbi trees, there are two more paths. We have to take a left path and reach mohri which is almost 15 kms from this joint.

There are two options to reach mohri from bhatti;

1. There is a road which goes through small hills. Villagers / Local guidance is required to go through this route.

2. One can board a Vehicle coming from Velhe and go towards Pasarliphata. These vehicles do not go to Mohri Village, but if we request and are ready to pay money then they can drop us nearby Mohri village. During the journey from bhatti to mohari, one can easily locate Rajgad, Torna and the ridge joining them. Bhatti to Mohari takes almost an hour by vehicle. Mohari is a small village of 5-6 houses. One can stay in one of the houses.

Day 3 :Mohari to Raigad

This is the last day of the range trek. The summit is on Raigad. This journey can be divided in 4 parts.

1.Mohari village to Rayling platue.

2.Rayling platue to Linganavadi

3.Linganavadi to Panhe.

4.Panhe to Raigad

On this route, it is desirable to be accompanied by a villager. Also ensure to carry enough stock of water as there is no water till konkan. One reaches rayling platue in almost 25 minutes from Mohari village. It gives superb view of fort Lingana and fort Raigad towards right. Lingana fort is next to Rayling plateau, considered to be one of the toughest forts in Sahyadri due to its steep and risky exposure. The way to boratyachinaal descend is at the entry of Rayling plateau.

Bortyaachi naal descend is very steep and there are shaky and unstable rocks on the way. One has to be very careful while descending. After almost 45 minutes of descend, one has to take a traverse towards right for Lingana base. The traverse is very narrow and there is extreme exposure. It is advisable to cross this traverse with a support of a rope. After the narrow patch, there is a small route that goes straight along the wall of Rayling plateau on its right and, valley on the left.  This path is covered with dry yellow grass and it is slippery, so one has to exercise extreme caution. After turning right we come exactly between Lingana fort and Rayling platue. We have to descend slippery path to reach Lingana base. From here there is straight climbing route to Lingana. The other route through trees, goes towards Linganawadi, base village. It takes approximately one hour from rayling to reach Lingana base.

On this route there are steady rocks thus making descend easy. On the way there are couple of rock patches which can be descended without a rope. After a descending for an hour from lingana base there is a big rock patch. After descending the rock patch one reaches narrow route on left. This can be tricky to identify, and hence one needs to be accompanied by a villager / local who is familiar with these routes. From this joint, it takes about an hour to reach Linganawadi. In Linganwadi, one can refill water and gather some rest.

The main descend of boratyachi naal is over. There are many other routes joining desh and kokan in this area like singapurnaal, madheghaat, bocheghol etc. But, descend through Boratychinaal is considered to be most challenging. From linganawadi one has to descend to reach Panhe village.The route is simple and it takes approximately one hour to reach Panhe Village. On the way to Panhe village one has to cross a river. The water levels are not high during winter season thus making crossing the river easy.One can refill water bottles and move towards Raigad which is approximately 8 kms from the river. From the river, one can get a clear view of Raigad on the west.The view of Fort Raigad is inspiring to all of us in many ways. In this trek it is even more inspiring as it is an indication that the goal is near to be achieved. This gives an extra impetus to the tired body and the mind to achieve this goal. Panhe village is 10 minutes from the river. Crossing Panhe village one has to reach Chhatri Nizaampur, base village of Raigad. This straight route goes through field. It takes almost 1.5 hours to reach Chhatri Nizaampur from Panhe. The route offers view of 3 forts, lingana in the back, kokan- diwa and Durga-Durgeshwar raigad. There is also another longer route via vagheri village

Chhatri nizaampur is exactly below takmak tok of Fort Raigad. Since, there is a road going to Raigadwadi-chittadarvaaza, one can take a vehicle. By walking, it takes almost 1.5 hours to reach Raigadwadi-chittadarvaaza from chhatrinizaampur .From chittadarvaaza, by steps Raigad can be ascended in 2 hours.

Conclusion

This fantastic trek comes to an end when we reach Gomukhi Mahadarwaza of Raigad. Summit at Shivaji Maharaj Samadhi is Satisfying. Most thrilling moment after we reach raigad is the view of lingana from Shivaji Maharaj Samadhi. If the sky is clear, one can view Torna and Rajgad from the same spot. I am sure every trekker will feel sense accomplishment at the end of this challenging trek.

To carry list:

1. At least 4 litres of water 2. Raw material for food 3. Torch, 4. Sleeping bag 5. Spoon and plates 6. Cap and goggle 7. Sweater (Temperature will be cold at night)

Places of potable water during trek

Day 1:

1. Sinhagad 2. Winzer village 3. Sakhar village 4. Gunjavane village 5. Rajgad

Day 2:

1. At Dhebe's place between Rajgad - Torna ridge. 2. Water cistern at Mengai devi temple, Torna 3. Bhatti village 4. Mohari village

Day 3:

1. Linganawadi after bortyachi naal descend.2. Panhe village 3. Chhatri nijampur village 4. Raigadwadi 5. Raigad fort.

Suggestion:

This is a very demanding trek.  Physical fitness is key to complete this trek. There are chances of muscle pain or body pain hence, please keep proper medication. Though the recommended months to do this trek are November and December it is advisable to carry Hydration packs / Fluids, Fruits to reduce the impact of sun.